(i) To answer questions from members of the public pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 10.
(ii) To answer questions from members of the Council pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 11
Minutes:
QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 1
Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor C Cooke will ask the Portfolio Holder for Housing, the following question:-
"I understand 500 of Tamworth Council's 2300 or so garage properties are to be handed over to Registered Social Landlords to be redeveloped for housing. Looking at the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment this figure could be a lot higher. Meanwhile there are 275 people on the Council's garage waiting list. 10%, or 54, of those earmarked for redevelopment are in Chapelon, in Glascote, where on-street parking is already a problem for some residents. Can the portfolio holder advise me of any measures that will be taken to ensure and manage adequate on-street parking in areas that are to lose a sizeable amount of their garage allocations?”
The Portfolio Holder for Housing gave the following reply:
I would like to thank Councillor Cooke for his question. The Council is currently taking forward the disposal of 26 Council owned garage sites for the purpose of developing affordable housing. This activity is consistent with previous Cabinet decisions to disinvest in garage sites that are uneconomical to maintain and utilise these for re-development purposes where this is a practical option.
The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is a snapshot of land which is known to be, or has the potential to be, made available for housing development in Tamworth Borough for the next 15 years based on the information currently available. It identifies sites which have the potential to accommodate housing, estimates their future potential capacity and assesses the status of sites already allocated for housing in the adopted Tamworth Local Plan, as well as sites which have planning permission for housing.
Whilst other garage sites identified in the SHLAA have the potential to be developed for housing, these have currently been identified for retention for continued use as garage units.
Of the 26 sites earmarked for disinvestment and re-development, the first 10 sites located in the Leyfields and Coton Green areas of Tamworth were included in Tranche 1 of the project and have taken some 18 months to progress to a point where planning applications can be submitted hopefully late summer of this year.
With specific reference to the sites in Chapelon, they are included within Tranche 2 and 3 sites. Work on these sites is about to commence and a detailed programme of site evaluation, feasibility assessments and consultation will again be required to determine which of the remaining 16 sites will go forward for re-development. This process will adopt a similar approach as applied to the 10 Tranche 1 sites and should again take approximately 18 months to complete.
With regard to the Tranche 1 sites, parking issues around the proposed developments have been highlighted as a major concern by residents. The production of a Parking Strategy that highlighted key issues and proposed solutions provided a means by which to address those issues. All garage tenants were offered a priority move to an alternative site. In addition, vulnerable tenants were identified and officers visited each of these to seek to resolve any particular issues that had arisen. Should the sites at Chapelon be taken forward for development of new affordable housing over the next 18 months, a similar course of action and programme of consultation with residents will be undertaken to deal with issues that arise, including those of parking.
Supplementary Question
“I'm not sure that reply answered the question but, as in so many areas of Tamworth's housing programmes, these garage redevelopments will mean more households and even less facilities for those households. So can you assure me that Tamworth Council will not give away more of the town's public assets, as these garages are, without adequate identification of alternative suitable facilities for Tamworth residents?”
The Portfolio Holder for Housing gave the following reply:
I give you the assurance that due regard will be given.
QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO.2
Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor C Cooke will ask the Leader of the Council, the following question:-
"Nearly £1/2 million pounds has been allocated in Tamworth Council's budget for a £2 million pound plus refurbishment and extension plan for Tamworth's Assembly Rooms. If the grants required to make up the £2 million do not materialise can the leader of the Council advise me as to what will happen to this budget allocation?"
The Leader of the Council gave the following reply:
The Council has identified £400,00k as a match funding pot to support the re-development of the Assembly Rooms alongside its wider ambitions to create a Cultural Quarter featuring the Library and Carnegie Centre. This ambition was supported at the Council’s Budget meeting on the 28 February with a resolution so I’m pleased to announce that the Council has been successful in a round one pass for our Heritage Lottery Bid which will see £80,000 funding from the HLF go towards more detailed feasibility works to support a round two bid. The Council can draw down £40,000 of its £400,00k pot to match the grant funding from the HLF and support the feasibility work. As the project progresses, further clarity will be available on the exact costs and funding sources available to meet the costs and this will be reported back to Cabinet. This is the same approach, almost exactly, as was taken for the successful Castle Heritage Lottery bid.
The Assembly Rooms project can be divided into two elements one of which requires funding from the HLF and would focus on the conservation works required to sustain the existing building and to bring back some of the original features. It would also support some refitting of the Assembly Rooms. Alongside this element of the work the Council is seeking capital funding from the Arts Council to support the extension of the Assembly Rooms to provide additional facilities which will support additional income generation.
Should the external bids fail then the capital receipt will return to balances minus the money committed to developing the bids at this stage £40,000.
Please keep in mind that the Council analyses and re-commits its capital budgets on a yearly cycle.
There was no supplementary question.